Inert Explosions
by andAshes
Summary: He watched in horror as three men caught a young man with dark black hair who was all limbs, pinned him to the ground and kicked the crap out of his face. Arthur/Merlin. One-shot. Complete


I have had this idea playing around in my head for the longest time - and I finally had an evening off from work so I finally wrote it. I hope you like it, I enjoyed writing it. I don't own Merlin, of course. Enjoy. Title inspired by Dan Le Sac's "Inert Explosions", I don't own that either. It's a beautiful song to write to. (Typo fixed, thanks!)

**Warnings:** Gay bashing, violence, broken bones, and a bit of romance

_Inert Explosions  
"Everything feels right, right, right now  
And you won't stop and you don't stop"_

Merlin really liked this place.

It was very medieval. That was its goal, actually. It was the kind of place someone went to if they wanted to enjoy a medieval-esque meal without the price of a real medieval faire. And on Merlin's student budget, he would never be able to afford it. It was quick, half fast food for convenience but really fucking delicious and the people working the registers would carry the food to the table.

He wasn't wearing anything particularly damning. His beloved black coat, long and curved sharply at the waist, fat silver buttons in two lines down his front, and a pair of worn black jeans. When he sat down he removed his coat, under he wore just a black t-shirt and one of those flat rubber bracelets. The one he wore was a bright rainbow, maybe that's what damned him in the end. A harmless bracelet.

He brought a book with him, nothing he was studying but something he read for fun. Maybe that damned him too – a book written at least a couple hundred years ago, reprinted and brought to that little second hand bookstore his uncle owned. He tucked himself into a corner of the restaurant, reading the book and eating. He didn't come here very often, he couldn't afford it most of the time because he had to save most of his money. He was heading to his job later, after going to class all day he would work a few hours at night for a bit of extra money. It was a simple job that paid well, even though Merlin was exhausted most of the time. Last night he had pulled seven hours after ten and only managed to squeeze in another three hours of sleep before a class at ten. Tonight he was hoping for a quick shift, if he were lucky.

Half way through eating, he set the book down and left for the washroom. The restaurant was empty except for the employees, goofing off in the kitchens. When he came out, there was a group of three kids in their twenties, probably Merlin's age but maybe a bit older. He wasn't sure what they noticed first, but the bracelet on his wrist was the first thing they caught. "Fag" One of them sneered, grasping Merlin's wrist and bringing it to his face. "Look at this; he really is, isn't he?"

The others guffawed with laughter, "I bet you like when I touch your arm like this? Thinking dirty thoughts?" Merlin's expression was torn between that heavy weariness he had been carrying for the last two months and shock, at that, his expression twisted into a scowl. "You sick fuck, I bet you are." Merlin twisted his arm in attempt to get away, but the man tightened his grip, tugging Merlin forwards so he stumbled, nearly falling. He realized right away that he needed to get out of here. Now.

"Look mate, he's falling for you!"

"I bet he takes it like a girl, don't you think?"

"Bet he takes a punch like a girl."

A fist connected with his teeth before he had a chance to react. He staggered, his wrist still locked in a tight as all fuck grip. His jaw had clenched and snipped through a portion of his tongue, it ached and all he tasted was blood. He wondered, desperately, why none of the employees were putting a stop to this. He grit his far too sore jaw and aimed his scrawny fist into the gut of the man holding him, he buckled and let go of Merlin's wrist. Relieved, he wrenched his hand away but was tackled to the ground before he could actually get away. His cheek was pressed hard against the dirty ground, he struggled as recklessly as he could, trying to throw the second guy off of him. His flailing wrists were grabbed and shoved up between his shoulder blades, a knee pressed into his lower back. "Bet you like when men pin you down" The one above him hissed.

The one he had thrown a punch at glared him down. "Fucking faggot, you made a huge mistake coming here tonight."

Merlin said nothing, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of his voice. He wasn't going to cry out or whimper or anything - he just let the blood ooze from his slightly parted lips. There was a boot in his shoulder then, and he felt a sickening crack before he felt it. Pain ripped through his arm, that had been tugged up way too far on his body, and it radiated from his wrist. He grit his teeth as hard as he could and tried not to make a sound, clenching his eyes shut as tight as he could make them, willing the pain to stop. But it just didn't – it wasn't like stubbing a toe or running into something or getting hit with something – it just kept hurting and it didn't stop and Merlin struggled to even breathe. He kept sucking blood back into his lungs from what was still left from his bitten tongue.

A boot met his face, pain danced behind his eyes and he nearly forgot about the pain in his arm as his vision spun. He thought he might black out – and that would be quite nice right now. He struggled weakly, he was too tired for this, too worn out, and everything hurt. He couldn't even tell which arm had cracked on him, his senses were blurring together and the taste of blood was cold and metallic in his mouth.

"He'll regret coming here."

And Merlin did regret it – he regretted his stupid job and its stupid hours. If his boss didn't fire him for not showing up (there was no way he was making it into work tonight) then he was quitting. If he wasn't so exhausted he could probably fend them off enough to get out of there.

Instead, his teeth hurt and he felt something crack in his nose, angrily bringing unintentional tears to his eyes. "Ha, he's crying." One laughed, Merlin barely heard it.

In the distance, what seemed like farther and farther away, he heard a voice. It sounded sweet and soft and warm, he tried his best to cling to it but it was slipping away. "Fine" One of the men was saying, and his arms were released and pain ripped through him again. Then one last boot into his stomach, he saw nothing else.

:x:X:x:

Arthur sat in his room, alone, with a half empty beer beside him and a glowing monitor in front of him. It was late – very late. So late that the sun was starting to poke up over the distance. But it was nearing Summer, that was to be expected.

He was relaxing, half tipsy as he aimlessly browsed the internet. Looking at the latest uploads on Youtube because there was something satisfying about being one of the first people to see something. Not that he'd admit that he did this – he was the son of the man who owned at least seventy five percent of town, he couldn't be seen hunched over his computer screen like a teenager with a porn addiction.

Not that he was hunched, and nor did he look at porn. The lights of the city glittered prettily and he sat back in his chair, the laptop burning bright in his eyes for too long. He rubbed them, took another swig of beer, and grabbed a cigarette from the pack on his desk. The dirty ash littered the table and the keys of the computer. He was a bit of a closet mess-maker, not that anyone but his cleaning lady would know.

He kept the house spotless, except the areas where he worked, which was his desk where his rusty old desktop hummed quietly behind his more modern and powerful laptop. The kitchen sometimes got a little cluttered with take-out boxes and pizza deliveries and sometimes a pot or pan where he cooked himself something a little more sustaining. The lady who cleaned was a wonderful woman, and happily cleaned his messes. He knew of people who had cleaning ladies, but kept their house spotlessly clean so when she arrived – everything was always perfect. So all she ended up doing was cleaning what was already cleaned.

He always left her a big tip, though.

He realized his thoughts were a little muddled, and sucked on the cigarette as he searched for new videos. In an instant, his tipsiness faded as he saw something that made him feel suddenly quite sick. The title was "_Fag gets the shit kicked out of him at Camelot's_".

Arthur had joined his father in some of his business-like moves, but he didn't desire to own more than half the town like his father did. He had thousands of things under his control. There had been a small, unpopular diner that he had bought with his father's money at eighteen, and at twenty had renovated it into a successful little business that had expanded a few towns over. At twenty five, Arthur was proud to say that he had done well with himself. It was enough of a project that took up a lot of his time without the staggering amount of work his father did. He had watched his father work himself to the bone, and still was as the years aged him. Arthur couldn't imagine doing that.

Nor could he believe what he was seeing. The video was taken directly from his own cameras, the security ones he had installed more than four years ago. He had opted for ones more expensive than the grainy black and white crap a lot of places used, and chosen a clearer colour image.

He watched in horror as three men caught a young man with dark black hair who was all limbs, and pinned him to the ground and kicked the shit out of his face. He watched with the cigarette burning away, forgotten, in his fingers and his mouth open wide in shock. It didn't stop until a young girl flanked with two men stepped in, the video stopped there. He scrolled through the comments, half of them were cheering the guys who had beat the stranger, the other half were degrading the abusers and praising the people who had stepped in.

Arthur's heart was thudding hard in his ears and he smashed the untouched cigarette into the table, and pushed the laptop to the side. He turned on the monitor (which was newer than the rest of the computer) and wriggled the mouse around until it brightened into life.

This computer was always on, and had access to everything the computer at work did. He could access the cameras from here, the work schedule, the list of everyone's contact information, the works. First, he found the video of the girl. One of the three men ran as soon as they appeared, the other two were dragged out by the two men and the girl knelt beside the boy's still form, she was touching his hair and pulling out a phone, probably calling the police. Paramedics arrived only a few minutes later, one of the other two was grabbing napkins to dab away the blood on the boy's face. He swallowed thickly, he wished he knew who they were so he could thank them.

The whole time, his employees had done nothing. So he watched the security videos from the kitchens too. It was the usual goofing off, having fun as they cleaned and made orders. He expected a bit of goofing off, everyone was good at getting their work done efficiently and it always looked clean in the mornings. When the time stamp in the corner clicked to the correct time, he stopped fast-forwarding to see what his employees had done. They all stopped what they were doing, and were talking with what he assumed were whispers. The cameras had no sound.

One of them went out of view of the camera to look, and came back to continue whispering. They stood around, listening, peeking around the corner to look, and did nothing. Arthur felt sick to his stomach, the whole time they did absolutely nothing, they barely worked. It was impossible to tell who had taken the footage from the cameras on the computer, they were all sitting in the chair at some point.

He couldn't take any more of it, and shut it off angrily to check who was working. He made a list of all their phone numbers, they were fired and he would be sure to pull out their resumes and call their references to let them know the kind of people they were. He would also call his father – they would never work in this town, or the next, if he had anything to say about it.

He was pissed, he lit another cigarette and sucked it to a point and down to the filter in less than two minutes, rewriting the schedule and erasing their names. Then he found the number for the local news, it was five AM and too early to call just now, but he was not going to let them go unpunished. He also began tapping out a statement on the laptop, apologizing, and finally, called a taxi to take him to his business.

Arthur normally would have driven, but he could still feel the beer swirling angrily inside of him. Definitely not good to drive like this.

He arrived at the store, unlocking the door and punching in his key to the security system. He paused for half a second before writing a new code. He would stay here until the opener got in, then he could give her the new code. She was a solid girl, she wouldn't have just stood around.

In the back, he found an unfamiliar black coat and a book on the back desk. He picked it up to examine it, it didn't look like anything he recognized. A quick run through of the cameras told him that it belonged to the stranger. He searched the pockets and found a handful of change and a student ID for the college nearby. Merlin Wyllt. There were a couple other cards, and the book was old and well worn. He sighed softly, sinking into the chair and casting his fingers through his hair. There was a picture on the ID, he had messy black hair and cheekbones that stood out on the shit quality image. Bright eyes and a smile that might have taken someone's breath away if they would have a chance to see him in person.

Arthur waited until six thirty before he called the news, arranging a meeting later that day. Shortly after, the opener walked in looking rather confused. "What's going on?" She asked, Arthur sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Quickly, he explained the situation. She was horrified, but she knew Merlin. He was in her literature class. "He's probably the nicest guy I've ever met, works too hard though, he always looks like he's about to fall asleep where he stands. I don't know how he gets such good grades." She worked hard too, he thought, and decided he could probably give her a raise. She opened, then went to classes, then came back to finish off if they needed her.

Great, so the victim was a wholesome nice guy. Why did this have to happen to the nice ones, the ones that didn't deserve it?

He took a taxi back to his house after telling her everything she needed to know, and posting the new schedule. He called his father in the taxi on the way home, explaining what had happened and giving him the names of the kids working. His father said nothing about the fact that Merlin had been targeted because he was gay – he knew his father didn't approve of homosexuality, but at least he didn't openly show it – he was outraged that employees had done nothing, it made the chain look bad, he said. Arthur knew it was deeper than that, for him anyways, but if his father would accept only the superficial truths of it, he would accept that. His father assured him that those little scum bags would never find a job.

Arthur felt satisfied, paid the driver, and went to his flat at the very top of the apartment buildings to shower and get changed. He had a lot to do today.

At eight thirty AM he called each of the three people who had been working that night, telling them he wished to meet them all at the same time at Camelot, and bid them a short good-bye. They didn't even know they were fired yet, and they'd never be able to work again.

Arthur wasn't going to let this go. He met with the news, giving them his statement, apologizing to the young man who had been injured, and apologizing for the actions of his employees. He promised that they would be punished, and that he wasn't going to allow anything like this to ever happen again. He also said that he wished to thank the people who had stepped in, and that he would love to speak to them to thank them in person, and that they should just come to the store if they wished to.

He was worn down by the time he was done, the news wouldn't air until later tonight, it gave him enough time to drive down to his store and meet with his ex-employees. He got there and left a note next to the schedule, telling them that they were able to give out his personal cell number to the people who had helped Merlin. Then he waited for the three boys to arrive.

When they did, his expression was grim and he led them into the main area, near the area where Merlin had been bleeding. He sat down on one of the chairs and beckoned them to sit.

"Last night, I came across a video." He started, his elbows on the table with his fingertips pressed tightly together to keep his anger in check. "Now tell me, why on earth do you three think it would be a good idea to steal security footage of a man getting _beaten_ and put it online?"

The boys were still, their eyes wide and horrified. One of them opened his mouth to speak, but Arthur held up his hand. "I don't want to hear it. You three did nothing, and at least one of you stole from this store. You're lucky you're not facing criminal charges. The boy you ignored may just do that, in fact, I hope he does. You're dismissed. Gather your things. I don't ever want to see your faces again."

And it was done, they looked rattled and obeyed him without question. He didn't move from his spot, sitting there with his fingertips pressed together and his thumbs pressed against his mouth. After they had left, he gave himself a few more minutes before he stood and said good-bye to the employees who hadn't betrayed basic human rights. Then he prepared himself to enter the hospital to find Merlin.

Really, Arthur was rubbish at this kind of thing. He didn't know how to comfort anyone, much less how to deal with the person himself. Dealing with the press was easy – he had been doing it for longer than he could remember. Dealing with someone who had been injured in a place that he owned – that he didn't know. He settled with a small handful of flowers in bright yellow. He would have brought gift cards, or something, but that seemed so impersonal. He tried to put himself into Merlin's position, just battered and bruised and taken to the hospital. What would he want?

Probably nothing, honestly. Revenge.

He walked in through the front doors, and spotted a tired-looking woman with dark skin and thick black curls getting a few snacks from the vending machine. His eyes widened and his heart leapt, he recognized her. He rushed towards her. "Excuse me" He started, she jumped and looked at him, confusion written on her face.

"I'm sorry to bother you" He started, trying to calm the mad beating of his heart. "I uh." He paused, unsure of how to continue. "My name is Arthur, I own the Camelot restaurants. I saw what happened" His expression saddened. "I wanted to find him, Merlin, I brought his things. And.. I recognize you from the tapes, thank you for stepping in. Really, thank you, if there's anything I can do, let me know. I wanted to apologize to him" He realized he was babbling, and shyly looked at his feet. The flowers were still sitting awkwardly in his hand, Merlin's coat slung over his shoulder with the book nestled safely in one of its pockets.

The woman's face softened, she looked relieved, if a bit suspicious. "Thank you, Arthur. My name is Gwen, and really, I don't need anything. I'm just happy he's okay, he's awake now and I thought I might bring him something to drink. They're trying to find the guys who did it – they think they have a lead. They only have the online quality videos."

"I'll gladly give them what they need" He said honestly.

"Come on, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you. He was asking about his coat as soon as he woke up."

Arthur was nervous, very, very nervous, to meet the boy who had been beaten for being gay.

:x:X:x:

Merlin was in pain, mostly. The pain was muddled by morphine, he could tell it was there and it ached in a dull way that didn't hurt. His head felt pleasantly full of bliss-soaked cotton. His left wrist was broken (he didn't know what he would have done if he had broken his right wrist) and his nose had been more or less shattered. He had chipped a tooth, and had actually bitten a chunk of his tongue so it hung uselessly in his mouth, it had been carefully sewn back on and it felt sticky and scratchy in his mouth. His eye was darkened with a bruise, and his ribs were bruised, so were his wrists and a gruesome mark on his cheek and stomach and chest.

But this girl, Gwen, she was with him. He had never even seen her before, but she had come with him to the hospital. Her two friends, he didn't catch their names through the drug induced haziness, but they had left for work with a promise to be back. Maybe, he didn't know, but Gwen had stayed beside him when he got out of surgery where they fixed up his nose and his wrist. She had mopped sweat from his forehead and stepped aside when they changed the bandages over his nose. They had talked, well, she had talked, because Merlin wasn't entirely coherent.

But after awhile, she had left to get snacks. Merlin had been told how he could eat with stitches in his mouth, but he didn't remember. Something about nothing too hot or cold, maybe, that's all he remembered.

He opened his eyes as Gwen returned, but this time she walked in with a man awkwardly carrying yellow flowers. He wondered how the stranger had known that he liked yellow flowers, and he found himself admiring the yellow of his hair and those shining eyes. He had slightly pouty lips, somehow, and Merlin liked them. But then he wondered why someone was bringing him flowers.

"Hey, Merlin" Gwen was speaking, her voice sounded far away. "There's someone here to see you. He owns Camelot." She introduced, Merlin's emotions churned as best they could. He blinked as the man stepped closer. He looked tired, there were lines under his eyes and he looked like he hadn't slept for three days.

"I'm Arthur" He started gently, nervously, as if he didn't know what he was doing. "I fired my employees." He was sitting down in the chair next to the bed Merlin lay in, Gwen had disappeared from sight. "They shouldn't have done nothing, they should have stepped in or called the cops or something. I'm so sorry, this shouldn't have happened." Merlin didn't like how fast the guy was talking, so he inched his good hand over to where Arthur's were nervously fondling the metal hand-hold of the bed. He tiredly rest his hand overtop the other's, to sush him, to tell him it was okay.

Well, it wasn't, he wouldn't be able to use his hand for a long time, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Unless, what was his name? Anthony? Ariel? Arthur? He couldn't remember, but he held the man's hand anyways, to show he understood for the most part what he was saying. He didn't even know who this guy was.

He felt fingers curl around his, and his lips curled into a small smile even though it hurt to do so. His lips were cracked and split and swollen, and smiling tugged the bandages on his nose and made that hurt too. So he stopped smiling after a moment. He made a noise that half sounded like the word 'thanks' and he hoped that was good enough for now.

Arthur was smiling, he saw, the kicked puppy look was sort of vanishing from his face. Though his face seemed slightly distorted, and he blinked a few times to clear it. "He's so drugged up he doesn't know his own name" Gwen said, her voice shaky but filled with amusement.

"Yes I do" He protested, though his tongue was thick and sticky and it probably came out as more of a drunken 'ee a ooo' instead. "s Merrlan" Arthur (maybe that was his name) chuckled, and rubbed his thumb over Merlin's knuckles with his other hand.

The words were lost to him, Arthur was speaking, or maybe Gwen, and he closed his eyes again. A some point, as he slept, he felt Arthur's hand slip away from his and he tightened his grip. Then it was gone and he was asleep.

:x:X:x:

Arthur took Gwen out to dinner after getting her number and parting ways for a few hours, and invited the other two who had been with her. They came and Arthur treated the three of them to dinner at one of the fancier Greek restaurants. One of them was her brother, Elyan, the other was her boyfriend, Lance.

"We weren't expecting to see anything like that when we walked in. We heard them calling him some awful things when we got there." She frowned, and looked at her lap for a moment. "His face was a mess, oh god, I thought he was dead at first. I can't believe that someone would do that to someone! He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who deserves something like that." She was frowning, and she looked unhappy. Lance took her hand kindly, and she sighed.

"We got the guys out of there, and the names of two of them. Only their first names, so the footage you sent to the police will help. Thank you" Lance said, tracing patterns on her skin.

"It's no trouble. I fired the guys working that night, they just watched. They didn't help him, they didn't do anything, I'm ashamed to have employed them."

"Good" Elyan said. "I hope they're ashamed of themselves. I hope they never work again."

Arthur couldn't help the self-satisfied smirk that touched his mouth. "They won't" The three of them gave him a curious look. "My father owns most of this town. They won't work again."

Lance frowned, but he could see the hint of a smile behind it. "They're just kids" He said, then sighed, he knew he was defeated. "But even kids should have known not to just stand by and let something like that happen."

The dinner went well, Arthur arranged a time to go visit Merlin so that they could all see him at different times. Then he wouldn't be alone, somehow that seemed important to him.

But the longer he chatted with them, the heavier his head felt, the more a headache began to gnaw at his brain. He drove the three of them home, where Elyan and Gwen shared a place, and to the small apartment Lancelot lived in a few blocks away.

When he was finally home, he stripped down and collapsed into bed. His thoughts drifted for awhile, then he thought about Merlin's smile. It looked like it pained him, but he had been right – the smile had been breath taking. Even if it had been small, it was something he wanted to see again. Then Merlin's hand – the way it had found his. He wasn't sure why Merlin had taken it, but he liked it. He liked the way Merlin had taken it. He hated the way Merlin's face was bruised, the large bandage on his nose looked awkward, and there had been dried blood under his lip.

As he fell asleep, his thoughts were focused on Merlin, his poor beaten face and that small smile he longed to see again.

:x:X:x:

Merlin woke up, alone, and in a fair amount of pain. He groaned, his throat was dry and rough, but thankfully he didn't have to wait around for too long. A doctor inspected his nose after carefully removing the bandages. "It's healing well" He said approvingly. "It won't be like it used to, but it's not going to be bad. How's your tongue?"

He was given painkillers, which were hard to swallow, and a little bit of water to rinse his mouth out with. Also a list of everything he could and couldn't eat. "The stitches will dissolve, it should heal nicely though. You're lucky. It doesn't usually take too long either."

Then he was left alone, and noticed his coat folded on the table. He grabbed it with his good arm and pulled it towards him; nothing was missing as he searched the pockets. Even his book was wedged in there. His phone had been in his pocket at the time, and had been off. There was a slip of paper under it on the table, along with a couple numbers. Gwen, Lance, and Arthur's name was written beside each set of numbers.

He smiled, even though it hurt. There wasn't a bandage on his nose anymore, but it was still sore. It probably would be for a long time. His wrist ached horribly until the painkillers kicked in, then everything felt somewhat pleasant combined with the dull ache.

He lay there for awhile, then there was a knock at the door and he spotted his uncle. They talked for awhile, even though Merlin's voice was thick and his words were a bit slurred. It was nice to see him, really, Merlin was happy to have visitors and he was already itching to leave.

Gaius left, and Merlin was alone again. So he read, enjoying the time to just relax and enjoy himself, eyeing the bright yellow flowers beside the bed.

:x:X:x:

Arthur felt nervous when he went to go see Merlin again, it was late and he was sure visiting hours were nearly over. But he walked to his room with purpose and another handful of flowers, these ones were a bit smaller, and he liked them a lot. He was hoping that Merlin would too – even though he felt a little silly bringing him flowers again.

He knocked on the door, then slid in when he heard a noise. Merlin was awake, sitting up in his bed. The bruise around his eye, cheek, and lips were gruesome purples and greens. Merlin looked up at him when he walked in, and he smiled again. Arthur smiled in return, setting the flowers down beside the other one and sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "Hey" He greeted. "Do you remember me?"

"Sort of" Merlin's voice was clearer today, but still thick and a little bit awkward.

"I own the restaurant." He admitted softly, as if it were his own fault. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Merlin smiled again, Arthur couldn't stop looking at it. His eyes crinkled pleasantly, even though it must have hurt to smile like that. "Thanks for coming." He said, his voice honest and raw. "I didn't think that the owner of some big company would come by to see how I was."

"What they did was unforgivable; I wanted to make sure you knew that the people involved are being punished, and that it's not right for them to do what they did." Arthur fidgeted with his hands, unsure what to do with them. He opened his mouth to keep talking, but a doctor was walking in. Arthur moved out of the way and patiently waited while he worked.

"You can go home if you'd like, Merlin" The man said. "Do you have a ride?"

"I can give him one" Arthur interjected. "If he wants, I don't mind. I came here to see how he is, I couldn't just leave him."

"Well, if you're okay with that, then you're free to leave any time. I'll give you a prescription, and a couple painkillers to take home with you. They should last you." He handed him a couple papers. "These are instructions on how to care for your injuries, and the police want you to call this number when you can, they want you to identify a couple of individuals. If you need any help getting dressed or getting out of here, there's a button you can press and someone will be with you."

Merlin nodded, saying nothing. His expression was stiff, and it wasn't until the man left that he breathed again. "I've gotta get dressed." He muttered, Arthur nodded.

"Should I step into the hall?" Merlin nodded again, and Arthur stood awkwardly in the hall until he heard his name from the mostly closed door. He slid back in, and found Merlin wearing his jeans.

"Right, I don't really know you or anything, but.. you're the only one here and I kind of need your help." Arthur nodded, and bit his tongue hard in his mouth because Merlin's skin was warm and soft and he found it hard to think. He did up the button on the other's jeans, and helped him out of the hospital gown and found his t-shirt.

It was covered in blood. Arthur frowned, and undid his own shirt. It was a button-down, over top of another shirt under it. He slid it off "This'll be easy to get on" He said, and when Merlin tried to protest he shook his head "Don't worry about it, I have plenty, I'll get it back another day." So he slid Merlin's broken wrist through the sleeve carefully, trying to be gentle and slow. The ugly bruise covering his chest made him unhappy, and he did up most of the buttons to hide it. How could someone hurt someone like this? Merlin didn't seem like the kind of guy who deserved any of it – he was obviously intelligent and hardworking, from what he found out from others.

It baffled him – sexuality shouldn't matter. Especially when his own was in question, what with the way Merlin's hand grasped his arm to steady himself as he slid his shoes on.

It was a long process, getting out of the hospital. Arthur carried Merlin's flowers and his coat and waited patiently as Merlin impatiently spoke to the front desk. Then, finally, they were outside in the parking lot. "Care if I smoke?" Arthur asked as they walked.

"Oh god, I wish you wouldn't." Merlin moaned. "I've been dying, but I don't think I'm allowed to" Arthur nodded, understanding. There was a pause as Arthur unlocked the car doors, they stared at each other over the roof. "Shit, just give me a few drags, will ya?"

Arthur smiled faintly, nodded, and slid into the driver's seat. He pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it, holding it in his mouth as he leaned across the middle to help buckle Merlin in. "This is going to be a nightmare" The male complained.

"Where do you live?" Arthur asked, ignoring his complaint and grinning even more when Merlin snatched the smoke from his mouth, giving a relieved sigh at the first drag. He gave Arthur directions and they made their way to Merlin's place. He didn't live on the college campus, he lived in a tiny little apartment quite close to it.

Arthur pulled up right in front, knowing he wasn't supposed to park here, and waited for a second.

"Hey, uh, do you want to come in?" Merlin asked, uncharacteristically shy. "I've gotta call the cops and deal with this shit. I don't drive, and I don't wanna call my uncle for a ride." Arthur's heart leapt into his throat, and he started the car again to find a place to park.

"Yeah, that sounds good." He said, he was supposed to meet his father tonight but this seemed more important. As they made their way in, Arthur sent his father a quick message, telling him he was going to help Merlin deal with the cops to arrest the guys who had hurt him.

Merlin's apartment was warm, cozy, really small and decorated unintentionally with books. Shelves were stacked high with them, and he admired the place for a few long minutes as Merlin used a wall to steady himself as he pulled his shoes off. "I'm gonna get changed" He announced. "So make yourself at home."

"So sit at the computer in my underwear?" Arthur joked, revealing his dirty little secret without really thinking about it.

Merlin chuckled. "If you really want to, but I wouldn't recommend it. I've got a cat, she's a monster and she'll probably be happy to claw up your legs." As Merlin disappeared into his room, Arthur wandered around looking for this cat. He found her curled up on one of the chairs in the kitchen, her face tucked under her tail. She was pure white, and opened her bright blue eyes to stare up at him. He wondered if she had been fed – Merlin had been gone for awhile, and glanced around. Thankfully, there was a bowl still partially full of food and no less than three bowls of water in different places. One of them was knocked over – another was dirty and nearly empty. That explained the three bowls.

Merlin returned an awful long time later, Arthur had scooped up the cat and was cradling her against his chest contentedly. Merlin was sheepishly wearing a loose pair of pants, probably the easiest to get on with only one hand, and still wearing Arthur's shirt. "I look like I don't know how to dress." He mused, putting his right hand towards the cat to stroke her nose. "What kind of gay man doesn't know how to dress?"

Arthur admitted that Merlin looked rather strange, but he shook his head "You look fine" The orange light in the kitchen cast a pretty glow on his cheekbones, it almost masked the bruising.

He sat at the table, pulling his phone out from the pocket of his pants, and turned it on. "My mum doesn't even know what happened. I don't want to call her yet, wouldn't want her to worry." He was mostly talking to himself, but Arthur took a seat across from him at the table anyways, watching him intently.

Lately, Arthur had been ignoring his normal duties. He wasn't swinging by the store as much, though they were doing fine without him. Sometimes someone called to ask him some dumb question he didn't care enough to answer, but he still took care of it because he was still their boss – even though Merlin had become more important than anything else right now. As Merlin dialled a number and spoke, Arthur just watched him. He wondered what he would taste like, or if it would hurt him too much to kiss him. He wondered if he would get pushed away, he wondered how old Merlin was, he wondered if he would let Arthur hold his hand. He had placed the flowers in the centre of the table when they arrived and there was still a soft white kitty bundled in his arms.

"Her name's Aithusa" He said. "She's a monster, don't let her sweetness fool you." He smiled vaguely, and Arthur wished he wouldn't stop smiling like that. He smiled like there was nothing in this world that could ever make him sad. Arthur might be falling, he realized. "And we can go down to the station on Main, whenever you want."

Arthur nodded. "Let's go."

:x:X:x:

Merlin liked Arthur.

He was a good guy – one that was noble in the kind of way that not a lot of men were. Chivalry, almost. He had gathered up his stuff (because in the haste and worry of the moment, Gwen hadn't known the coat was his, nor did she think of grabbing it, she was too worried about the man who was bleeding out on the floor) and tracked him down. He saw the article in the paper, he saw the names of the employees who had done it to him, he saw the pretty yellow flowers that Arthur had brought for him, he saw the way Arthur did anything he asked.

Maybe Merlin liked Arthur a bit too much – but he was sure that Arthur was only doing this because he had an idea of chivalry, and planned to see it through until the end. And once the end hit, Arthur would be back to his businessman lifestyle. As they drove to the station, they shared another smoke and he skimmed through his phone. He saw a message that was supposedly sent from him, to someone named 'Arthur' on his phone. The message was simply '_Merlin_'. He found himself smiling again, Arthur must have programmed his number into his phone when he had been out.

Normally, that kind of thing would have bothered him, but somehow it didn't. He had Arthur's number, so maybe this blonde stranger would stay in his life for awhile yet.

When they got to the station, Arthur opened the door for Merlin and offered his hand for him to help get out. He felt like a bit of a girl, and tried to hide his flush by laughing and pushing Arthur's hand out of the way. Though he probably could have used it, everything was a bit awkward with only one arm.

The process of identifying the men who had done it was tedious, and Arthur was allowed to be there as a second witness because he had given them the video footage. Together, they picked out the men from the list of pictures, and after three hours of waiting, and talking, and explaining, and even more waiting, they were finally able to go home.

"So what can you eat?" Arthur asked casually as they finally got outside.

"Er, nothing too hot or cold, nothing crunchy, uh.."

"I know a pasta house near here, think that'd be okay?"

Merlin paused, and tried not to grin like an idiot because he kind of wanted this to be a date. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good, I'm starving."

Merlin walked with Arthur down the block, around a corner, and down another block and a half. The place looked warm, there were fake candles on each table that made it look like it were flickering, as they entered the smell of pasta and meats filled them. They sat at one of the booths made for two, settling comfortably together. Merlin's limbs were a bit too lanky for the narrow table, and he felt Arthur's leg close to one of his, and tried not to think about that as they poured over the menu.

The waitress came to greet them, and looked shocked at the state of Merlin's face. "Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?"

"He beats me" Merlin said nonchalantly, nodding in Arthur's direction.

"What? No! Don't believe him, he's being stupid" Merlin smirked, the girl looked positively horrified.

"I am kidding" Merlin said, sitting up straighter and looking at the poor girl. "You might have heard about it, I was the one hurt inside of Camelot's." Her eyes widened further and a spark of recognition flashed over her face.

"Oh my goodness, you had me worried. You must be Arthur, then, I saw what you said, I'm really glad that you're not just lying around. I know a lot of people would just ignore it, thank you. How about I bring you two whatever you want, free of charge?"

"Oh no, I couldn't. We'll gladly pay for whatever we get." Arthur said, "And thank you, I'm ashamed that my employees sat around and let it happen."

The girl smiled, and extended her wrist. There was a flat rubber bracelet, rainbow in colour, and Merlin smiled. His bracelet was in the pocket of his pants, it had been on the table beside his bed at the hospital. "Trust me, all of us here will be happy to give you anything you'd like, and especially you" She looked to Merlin. "You're very brave, now, what can I get for you?"

The waitress's name was Elena, and though she wasn't gay herself, a number of her coworkers were. One of the cooks, Gwaine, came out to meet them, shaking Arthur's hand and telling him he was going to make sure everything they ate was delicious.

Merlin, after they had ordered, pulled his bracelet from his pocket. He held it out to Arthur "Can you put this on my wrist?" He asked softly, he wasn't fond of asking for help, but Arthur seemed happy to give it, even when Merlin didn't need it.

Arthur grabbed his hand, his fingers were rough and warm, and slowly slid the bracelet onto Merlin's thin wrist. His good one – normally he wore it on his left but it wouldn't fit over the cast. Arthur's hands lingered and Merlin's stomach flopped happily. And their hands parted quickly when the chef, Gwaine, brought out their food personally. He was giving Merlin a knowing smile and Merlin tried not to say anything.

"Thank you" Arthur said warmly, Merlin melted a little.

Gwaine had listened to Merlin's request – he couldn't eat anything too hot, so the man had made sure his pasta was warm, not hot and steaming like Arthur's was. He felt warm and happy and boldly he pressed his leg against Arthur's, who pushed back.

Arthur left a hefty tip on his way out, folded under one of the plates left on the table. They stopped at the bar and chatted to Elena and the owner, Mithian, who was happy to meet them. They stayed well after closing, sitting at the bar after a few minutes of chatting. Merlin wondered if it would be a bad idea to invite Arthur home with him, or if he would even want to. Maybe they could just sit around and watch movies or something, or maybe Arthur would just go home and Merlin would be left wondering how long it would be before he could safely call him. This wasn't really a date, he didn't know if Arthur was even gay or not.

But damn, there were signs. They were everywhere, the way Arthur's shoulder bumped his as they walked, the lingering touches, the press of his leg over dinner. Arthur drove him home, and Merlin pulled a smoke from his pack without asking, and lit it as they drove. He knew he shouldn't smoke, but that wasn't really going to stop him, especially because it had been a stressful few days.

He finally felt rested, and he hadn't even bothered to call his boss. Gaius had spoken to him, and Merlin made a plan to quit soon. As soon as he wasn't with Arthur, whose face lit up with all the colours of the city as they drove. They got close to his apartment, and Arthur pulled around to find a place to park, rather than waiting just outside. "Do you want to come in?" Merlin asked hurriedly, before he had a chance to second guess himself and shuffle inside alone.

"Yeah, I'd love to."

Merlin led the way, Arthur followed behind him and shut the door when they got inside.

"Do you have anything to do tomorrow?" Merlin asked, nearly holding his breath.

"I need to stop by the restaurant for a bit, to make sure they're okay without me. And talk to my father, but he'll wait. He knows I'm busy."

"Want to watch something? Oh, I should probably give you your shirt back." He liked wearing it, and Arthur waved his hand dismissively. Merlin gathered up a blanket to curl up under, and took a seat so that Arthur would be on his right side. He settled, and Arthur settled in beside him, looking somewhat nervous.

Merlin flipped through channels, before loading up the movie program on his gaming station (one of the few things he had saved up to buy) and passing the controller to Arthur. They argued on what to watch before deciding on one of those stupid funny movies that parody everything. His couch was, thankfully, small, so they were sitting close enough that Merlin could feel Arthur's warmth. He sat a bit awkwardly, trying to find a way to sit that didn't hurt his ribs (the painkillers were wearing off) or his arm. Which wound up with his arm resting lightly against Arthur's, to which he asked if Merlin would like to switch spots if he was uncomfortable. Merlin refused, worried that this whole idea was a bad one.

Arthur was careful, and went to fetch Merlin's painkillers when it got to be too much without Merlin having to ask him, he only told him where they were when Arthur asked. After taking them, he relaxed a bit more and after awhile, he sank into the hazy bliss of no real pain.

Arthur pulled the blanket over his legs as they got through the movie, snickering when something stupid happened, and Merlin found himself leaning more and more on Arthur until the movie ended and they needed to choose another one. He barely noticed what the other chose, and sank deeper into Arthur's shoulder, and eventually Arthur moved, and Merlin worried that he was about to be pushed away, but a warm arm came around him instead, and he settled against his chest. His stomach was churning pleasantly and he tried not to grin too much, especially when Arthur's fingertips traced soft circles on his skin over the clothing.

When Merlin woke up, Arthur was idly playing games. He had left one of those free-roam games in, and Arthur was running around playing games. Merlin had somehow managed to get his back tucked against Arthur's side, Arthur's arm a heavy and comforting weight on his chest. He nuzzled Arthur's arm slightly, and the male paused and set the controller down, the hand around him rest on his arm, and the other one touched his shoulder. Arthur was turning towards him and nervous excitement spread through him. He felt Arthur's breath on his neck, and he shivered slightly.

He heard the other mumble his name against his skin, and sat up slightly, then turned to look at him. "Hey" He greeted weakly, offering him a smile. Arthur's expression flickered, and he brought one hand to touch his hair lightly.

"Hi" He returned, his eyes lost in something Merlin couldn't read. Merlin took in a shaky breath, placing his good hand on the other's leg.

They met half way; Arthur put his hands on either side of Merlin's face and tilted his head. When Arthur kissed him, Merlin's heart must have skipped a beat. Arthur was careful not to brush his nose, and he was gentle with his lips because they were still swollen and split. Merlin melted into him, held by strong arms and putting his hand on Arthur's neck.

When he pulled away, Arthur chuckled nervously, trailing one hand through his hair again.

Merlin was smitten, and he leaned in to kiss Arthur again – it was more right than anything he had ever known.


End file.
